These are two awards that don't really have anywhere else to go. One is more Wii-centric, whereas the other focuses on the Nintendo DS market.
While it might not be as important on DS, multiplayer on Wii has been a central marketing point for the console. For the purposes of this award, "multiplayer" encompasses both local and online multiplayer.
Winner: GoldenEye 007
In a world where only one system had four controller ports, GoldenEye 007 on Nintendo 64 kept friends engaged in firefights late into the night. The fine folks at Eurocom have successfully created a Bond title that not only features great split-screen multiplayer that is reminiscent of Rare’s classic, but also a robust and modern online mode to go along with it. Local multiplayer fiends will love the numerous modifiers, including the nostalgic paintball and golden gun modes. On the other hand, players jumping online will enjoy the usually lag-free matches and the ability to level up their character to unlock new weapons and rewards. Great multiplayer map design, Classic Controller support, and Oddjob’s inclusion are just some of GoldenEye’s other fine attributes. Those desiring multiplayer action would be silly to avoid Bond’s finest Wii outing.
Four Player Split-ScreenRunner Up: Monster Hunter Tri
Monster Hunter Tri faithfully brings four-player monster-tracking madness to Wii, with a fully fleshed-out multiplayer component that puts many other titles on the console to shame. In addition to local adventuring, friends can also meet up online. While a type of friend code is still used for online play, Capcom made them short and sweet, and the online lobby system and Wii Speak support makes finding and communicating with friends much easier. Add in downloadable quests and a constantly rotating selection of online challenges, and you have one of the best multiplayer titles the Wii has seen to date.
While multiplayer may play a larger role on Wii than it does on DS, the DS has a definitive upper hand when it comes to import titles. Being a mostly region-free device, gamers can import whatever titles they choose from other parts of the world. This year our North American staff became enamored with two European imports in particular.
Winner: Jam With The Band
Some of the best DS titles of this year just never made it to North American shores. Inspiring the discipline of learning an actual instrument, Jam With The Band manages to provide a taste of the joy of performing music. With a large library of tracks on the cartridge, and up to 50 more from a choice of hundreds for download, the game offers a lot of music to experience. Unique instrumentation for each track allows the most devoted to delve into the intricacies of every song. If all of that doesn’t satisfy, hours have been spent in the studio mode recreating melodies for no reason other than the joy of music. Not bad for a a DS title.
This note path can get moving pretty fastRunner Up: Last Window: The Secret of Cape West
A sequel to the extremely well done Hotel Dusk: Room 251, Last Window continues to unravel the mystery of Kyle Hyde. It brings along another brilliant story, uncovering the mysteries of the soon-to-be demolished Cape West apartments, and its connections with the death of Kyle’s father. While a North American release looks unlikely, fans of the first game or similarly-styled adventure games would do well to consider an import.
Kyle Hyde contemplates this traditional puzzle
